KATHMANDU, Feb 19: Devi Sunar, the mother of Maina Sunar—a 15-year-old girl tortured and killed by army officers more that two decades ago at the Birendra Peacekeeping Operation Training Center (BPTOC) in Panchkhal, Kavre—has opposed the plan to upgrade BPTOC into the Asia-Pacific Regional Training Center.
In a letter addressed to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations on Monday, Sunar expressed concern over the Nepali Army’s lobbying for the upgrade. She urged Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, to ensure that this does not proceed unless clear conditions guaranteeing justice, reparation, and non-recurrence are met.
Devi Sunar stated that the Nepali Army officials had approached her once, claiming they were taking steps to honor her daughter. While acknowledging that commemoration is part of the remedies she seeks, she outlined three critical conditions she considers essential for the NA to demonstrate its commitment to truth, justice, and non-recurrence.
In the letter sent to the UN Headquarters via UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Nepal, she has argued that approving BPTOC’s upgrade would only serve to legitimize the army’s crimes, perpetuate impunity, and discourage victims and human rights advocates.
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Maina Sunar, a ninth grader at Bhagawati Secondary School, was abducted and murdered at BPTOC on February 17, 2004. Her remains were found eight months later following pressure from national and international human rights organizations.
After Nepal’s peace process began, a case was filed against four military officials on January 21, 2008. In a landmark verdict on April 17, 2017, the Kavre District Court sentenced three officers to life imprisonment for extrajudicial killing during the armed conflict.
A single bench of Judge Medini Prasad Paudyal convicted then Colonel Bobby Khatri and captains Amit Pun and Sunil Adhikari under Section 13.3 of the Homicide Chapter of the Criminal Code. This was the first case in which Nepali Army officials were convicted of a crime committed during the decade-long armed conflict that began in 1996.
As part of her conditions for justice, Sunar has demanded that the three convicted officers serve their sentences. If the Nepali Army claims they are abroad, she insists on cooperation for an investigation under extra-territorial jurisdiction. “The NA may argue that these officers already faced a court-martial on September 8, 2005, regarding my daughter’s killing. But let me be clear: a) under international human rights law, crimes against civilians should not be handled by a military court; and b) the court-martial only addressed improper interrogation techniques and improper body disposal,” she wrote.
She further argued that the officers were given lenient punishments—six months’ imprisonment, temporary suspensions, and minor fines. They did not actually serve prison time, as their confinement during the court-martial proceedings was counted toward their sentence.
She also accused the Nepali Army of obstructing justice, citing its 2017 Supreme Court petition seeking to overturn the Kavre District Court’s verdict. “I have been named as a defendant in this case and regularly summoned for hearings, most of which are postponed. This legal maneuvering is an attempt to intimidate me into giving up my pursuit of justice,” the letter stated.
Devi Sunar said she would accept the Nepali Army’s offer to erect a statue in her daughter’s memory at BPTOC if her conditions were met. “If these two conditions are fulfilled, I would welcome the memorial, as it would acknowledge my daughter’s suffering to visitors at BPTOC and the broader public,” she added.
Additionally, she urged the UN to push for Nepal’s stalled transitional justice process, which remains paralyzed nearly two decades after the armed conflict ended. “The UN’s vetting of Nepal’s peacekeeping forces is crucial for accountability. Allowing the Nepali Army to continue training peacekeepers at BPTOC without meaningful progress on this case and the broader transitional justice process would be a scandal,” she emphasized.
